COVER STORY: THE QUEENS OF COUNTRY

Patsy Cline.  Loretta Lynn. Tammy Wynette. Reba McEntire. The list of ladies who’ve topped the Country Music charts over the ages is as long as the Mississippi River.   Over the past several years, a new cast of brash, bold and beautiful women have picked up their guitars and microphones, and picked up the mantle laid down by the legends who came before them. Fresh of this year’s stellar American County Music Awards, Wiles is proud to salute the new generation of Country Music’s Queens. And a special shout-out goes to the belle of the evening – our cover girl, Miranda Lambert – who scored BIG with with wins for female vocalist of the year (for the fourth straight year), record of the year and single record of the year.

Miranda Lambert initially rose to fame as a finalist on the 2003 season of Nashville Star, where she finished in third place. Lambert made her debut with the release of “Me and Charlie Talking”, the first single from her 2005 debut album Kerosene. This album, which was certified Platinum in the United States, also produced the singles “Bring Me Down”, “Kerosene”, and “New Strings”. All four singles were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

In 2011, Lambert married fellow country singer Blake Shelton. She also released her fourth album, Four the Record, which includes the singles “Baggage Claim”, “Over You” (also a number 1), “Fastest Girl in Town” and “Mama’s Broken Heart.”

 

 

 

Martina McBride has been called the “Celine Dion of Country Music” for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range.

McBride has recorded a total of eleven studio albums, one greatest hits compilation, one “live” album, a Christmas compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA Gold certification, or higher. In the U.S. she has sold over 14 million albums. In addition, McBride has won the Country Music Association’s “Female Vocalist of the Year” award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music’s “Top Female Vocalist” award three times

 

 

 

 

Kacey Lee Musgraves has self-released three albums before appearing on the fifth season of the USA Networks singing competition Nashville Star in 2007, where she placed seventh.  Undermine”, a song co-written by Musgraves and Trent Dabbs, was featured in the ABC television series Nashville on October 17, 2012. Musgraves was nominated for four awards at the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year.

 

Carrie Underwood rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Underwood has since become a multi-platinum selling recording artist, a winner of six Grammy Awards, sixteen Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards and ten Academy of Country Music Awards, among several others. As a songwriter, she has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. With her strong album and single sales, and $100 million in tour revenues, Underwood is the Biggest American Idol Earner and the fourth biggest album seller of the past 10 years. She has sold a combined 45 million records worldwide.

Described by music critics, such as Billboard ‘s, as Country Music’s reigning Queen, Underwood is the only solo country artist to have a number one hit on Billboard Hot 100 Songs in the 2000 decade, as “Inside Your Heaven” reached the top of the chart in 2005.

 

 

 

Jana Rae Kramer is best known for her role as “Alex Dupre” on the television series, “One Tree Hill.” Kramer began a country music career in 2010 with the single “Why Ya Wanna”, from her self-titled debut album for Elektra Records.

On January 16, 2012, Kramer released her official debut single, “Why Ya Wanna”. Kramer premiered the official music video directed by Kristin Barlowe on February 6, 2012. The song peaked at number 52 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 3 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. “Whiskey” is the album’s second official single. On June 5, 2012, Kramer released her self-titled debut album Jana Kramer. The record received positive reviews from critics with many praising Kramer’s vocal performance.

 

 

 

Sunny Sweeney’s debut album, Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame, was independently issued in 2006 and then regionally released in 2007. It produced three regional (Texas, Oklahoma) singles in “If I Could”, “Ten Years Pass” and “East Texas Pines”, and these songs charted on the Texas Music Chart. In June 2010, the lead-off to her second studio album, “From a Table Away,” became her first single to chart.

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